This invention relates to a latching module configured to be attached to a unit which is designed to be detachably installed in an electronic apparatus so as to maintain the attached state of the unit to the electronic apparatus.
When an attachable and removable unit like a hard disk drive is attached to an electronic apparatus like a notebook computer, a latching mechanism is usually used to maintain the attached state of the unit to the electronic apparatus. This type of the unit includes an optical disk drive like a CD-ROM drive and a DVD-ROM drive, other device unit to record or store information, a battery unit and so on. For example, the latching mechanism is disclosed in JP-A 2000-82884, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Recently, a latching mechanism which includes a release mechanism to release the latch is known. The latching mechanism has an operative member like a handle and so on. The operative member is linked to the release mechanism. The operative member protrudes from the latching mechanism toward a direction in which the unit is removed from the electronic apparatus. The operative member is pulled so that the unit is removed from the electronic apparatus. The above-mentioned latching mechanisms are roughly divided into two types in view of specific structures. The first type latching mechanism is configured to be incorporated into the electronic apparatus. The second type latching mechanism is configured to be attached to the unit.
As for the first type latching mechanism, the electronic apparatus is required to include a power transmission mechanism internally so as to transmit a power which pulls the operative member to a member which forces the unit to be ejected or removed. As for the second type latching mechanism, the operative member is attached to the unit with the latching mechanism so that a force applied to the operative member is used directly to eject or to remove the unit. Therefore, the electronic apparatus is not required to include the power transmission mechanism. The former electronic apparatus with the first type latching mechanism has a region occupied by the power transmission mechanism. On the other hand, in the latter electronic apparatus corresponding to the second type latching mechanism, this region can be used to place other members and so on. Therefore, the inner space of the latter electronic apparatus may be used more effectively as compared with the inner space of the former electronic apparatus.